JBlaine

Sandwiching a three-year old in a middle seat between two strangers IS inhumane. Most people are good-hearted and kind. But you never know what a stranger might do to a child. Not ok to seat a child apart from their parent.

nycflyer222

UA also knew this when they gave the mother boarding passes. Should have had it sorted out prior to boarding.

We shall see what July 4th weekend shenanigans are in store for us!

hotscot

Inhumane?
With all due respect maybe you don't know what that actually means.

Artpen100

In fairness, what I usually see is a gaggle of people standing around outside of the regular boarding lanes, not some clear group of 1Ks. I will hang back, but when 1K is called, if you are just standing there, I will rather quickly say excuse me and go around you.

evol

This is a great idea and productive idea IMO. T-12 is penalty enough for the BE folx, and it would free up the GAs for the usual pax needs and questions; actual standby and upgrades.

Kevin AA

Does anyone have evidence that UA gives away E+ seats for free to BE passengers when there are available E- seats?

A BE passenger can pay for an E+ seat. They can do so at check-in or at the gate while boarding is in process. You can't assume that they got those seats for free. NRSA also get E+ middle seats when all the E+ aisle and window seats are taken.

emcampbe

yes, we’ve heard some reports on it here. But I suspect most of them are premiers. Don’t know about the once or twice a year flyers who wouldn’t be on a forum like this.

look, seating issues like this have happened for years and years. And while this certainly got worse with BE, and I may get flamed for my opinion, but there are probably a good amount who are left to dry not of their own doing. Look at the amount of canceled flights we have these days, and these travelers are going to be rebooked on the next available flight, regardless of whether there are open rows available, or only scattered middles left, or nothing at all until the gate. With full flights and the number of cancelations now, as well as lack of alternatives, I suspect this is also causing more problems now than say, in 2019. Probably as many as ever.

yes, there are people buying BE and then demanding to sit together as well, and that should be stopped. There’s no perfect solution, but there are some options that could help separately or together:

- Have a way to ensure minors sit with at least one adult in their party without requiring a charge for seats. Just as an example, AC will do this on any fare if traveling with a child (I think 12 or under), even if the fare type requires a seat fee - they will put you in adjacent seats on request anytime, and I think they will automatically do it a few days before departure - IME, it will be in the last row or two, but it is something. SQ will give free seat selection at booking for parties on a value fare (which doesn’t normally allow for free seat selection) if there is a minor.
- Proactively give certain customers (non-BE) access to E+ as needed a few days prior to departure - I’m not sure if this happens now, But I know it did at some point as I received an email on a full flight pre-pandemic allowing my party (two of 4 were silvers) the opportunity to move up free of charge. You can open this to different groups as necessary - silvers, *G, those on YBM fares, UA CC holders, etc. That would push folks on non-BE fares into E+ and open up seats in the back. Of course, if E+ already only has middles, this isn’t going to work. And unlike pre-pandemic, UA may see the loss of revenue (as a result of losing the opportunity to have people spend more $ on those seats).
- Maybe this is an opportunity to just allow silvers the ability to select E+ in advance again - maybe at booking, maybe at 2 weeks out, or some time that would make sense. Maybe this would solve more problems than the potential revenue loss from E+ fees. Or at least incentivize purchase by giving a discount - silvers get 50% (or whatever’s off the going rate for E+
- block 2 rows in the back (or whatever) for assignment to BE families - then assign them at T-24 (or at the airport - whenever) - though on flights that are really full, this could have an unintended consequence of having more seats needing to be assigned at the gate because those 12 seats (or whatever) are no longer available to select for anyone - I’m sure there’s a balance somewhere.
- Don’t allow anyone with a minor to buy a BE fare, or simply force them to buy a seat at purchase of BE fare (or if someone specified a child in the search, and a BE fare is available, simply add the seat selection into the price shown). Honestly, I think not allowing BE fares to be bought if a minor is on the reservation is the best solution. There are many reasons I am not likely to buy a BE fare, but one is because there is no way I’m going to put myself in a situation where there is a good chance my 4 or 7 year-old will end up sitting on their own with strangers - it’s not good for anyone including parents, kids or strangers. Since human nature is generally to pick the cheapest price, regardless of the consequences, that would take that option away from the people who can’t sit apart.

Artpen100

I learned a new thing, I think. I had a family member on a domestic flight that was cancelled, but we were on two different PNRs. We had both bought regular E, but had moved up to PE. I'm 1K, the family member was without status. When the flight was cancelled, I got moved to the next flight in PE. But there was no regular E left on the next flight. There was some PE. The 1K agent said they could not move the family member to that next flight because they had no status and were in E, and there was no regular E (which by the seat map, was true). They also said the person could not purchase one of the PE seats. I had to consider options, so hung up, figured out an earlier flight and called back and got us all on that, in PE. But I again checked if the new 1K agent could put us on the next flight that had no E, and they said they could not. But is that true? If you are in E with no status and your flight is cancelled, they will not put you on a flight that has no E? Even if it has PE?

porciuscato

That could have been me, who as a GS was still trying to break through the phalanx of 1Ks blocking the gate when GS was called. I see it every time I go through a major hub now. Fortunately, I do check bags a lot of the time and board last, so I don't have to deal with it.

And I respectfully disagree with the folks above: the fast boarding in the EU is all about carry on size. LH in particular are very strict about oversize carryons and everyone knows it. I've seen people forced to pay at the gate to check roller bags that are roughly the average size you see in the US. The carry-on scene in the US is frankly ridiculous. It reminds me of the rural Egyptian trains I rode 40 years ago, where people would board with goats and baskets of fish.

prestonh

Another factor is that UA wants their cake and eats it too in this regard. They gladly charge baggage fees but regularly fail to provide said baggage service in a timely manner (or at all in some cases). So what is a customer to do in this regard? IMO Hedge their bets and/or avoid the fees. it is the natural economic response. Should UA change either baggage performance/fee model, the carry-on situation would be a bit different. But it's likely they won't.

WineCountryUA

PE?
"Moved up to PE"? How?
Are you talking about Premium Economy / Premium Plus (a separate cabin/ fare class) or Economy Plus / E+?

HNLbasedFlyer

What do you mean? One area - at least for me the UA excels is getting me bags quickly - I check them 100% of the time. I find checking bags and getting them quickly is one of UA's strength as I can spend more time in the lounge, not tote around luggage, board towards the end, and not worry about overhead space.

Artpen100

I mean E+. I think of it as premium economy. Premium economy on international flights is called Premium Plus, not premium economy.

emcampbe

Sure, that term is strong but what would you call it - no airline should be seating a 3yo away from parent or guardian. In fact, if it isn’t, it should be against some sort of DOT reg. to seat minors, particularly younger minors like this ways from a parent/guardian. For one thing, in case of emergency, what kind of 3yo do you think could properly put an oxygen mask on themselves (or could even reach it if they deployed) - should a stranger be responsible for that, or what about distracting a crew member from the other duties they need to be preforming? What about being able to properly ensure their seatbelt is secure, etc. then, most 3yo need help with things, setting up the iPad to watch, getting things on tray table in a way that won’t spill, etc. also need parental support, prone to getting upset because they don’t have the snack they want right when they want it, etc. what about going to the bathroom - my oldest at 7yo is still shy around strangers and would not want to ask a stranger in an aisle seat to get up because she needs to get out to go to the bathroom (though my 4yo would have no problem doing that!). No way I’d voluntarily put our family in a situation where our kids did not have adults there for them - like I said upthread - bad for the kids, bad for the parents and bad for everyone around them, for sure.

I agree - of all the carriers, UA is pretty good about this (although timing to have them on the belt can be a bit varied depending on arrival airport and priority tags are not really generally prioritized, at least in N. America, but there aren’t really any others that do it well either, so that’s kind of moot).

we flew AC out to Asia a couple of weeks ago, and we’re pretty happy the only eventful thing was one bag that got left in YVR and we had it back in a day and a half (to us in India at the time, vs. SIN where that itinerary ended). Since then, have seen several stories on FB, etc. of folks I know whose luggage didn’t make it with them on AC. Look at the piles of bags at LHR, YYZ, etc, which I know are the extreme cases, but yeah, these days are not as uncommon as they once were.

i think in about 20 years I’ve had UA delay my bag twice. I’ve had DL do that too, but flying with them only about maybe 5-10 times in that period, and don’t get me started on the old US airways. I have no concerns about checking a bag on UA - in fact, for short connections, an more confident the bags will make it than my family can.

E+ is most certainly not premium economy. In fact, on the UA flights where Premium Economy (eg, Premium Plus) exists, there is also E+. There is also no separate inventory for E+ - you buy a ticket in Y, and then can either pay extra for an E+ seat or get it as a premier. It’s just a seat closer to the front with more legroom. If there truly was no economy inventory left, then the agent was correct, and even you got done a huge favor (unless there was one seat left and you got it, then nothing left for the other traveller - also possible). I suspect this was an inventory issue and not an available seat assignment issue.

Boraxo

I check 0% of the time and spend 0 minutes waiting to check a bag and 0 minutes waiting at baggage claim and 0 minutes filling out lost baggage claims and 0 minutes shopping for lost or delayed clothes. I don’t mind boarding early to snag overhead space. It is well worth my time.